U.K. Payers Said to Favor Mobile Phone

Most consumers in the United Kingdom want to use their mobile phones to make payments, according to a recent test conducted by Telefonica SA's U.K. mobile arm, O2.

"Convenience, ease-of-use, and the status of having such an innovative device were seen as the main benefits," the company announced Wednesday.

Five hundred people tested mobile phones with near field communications payment capabilities from November 2007 to last May, and 78% of them said they would be interested in using the device.

The United Kingdom's largest mobile phone operator, by the number of subscribers, teamed up with several transit, payments and telecom companies to test the O2 Wallet, including Barclaycard, Visa Europe, Nokia Corp., AEG, and Transport for London.

O2 proposed the creation Tuesday of an industry task force to bring together mobile operators, handset manufacturers, and other key players to develop mobile payments services using NFC devices.

Orange, the U.K. division of France Telecom SA and Vodafone Group PLC, is already in talks with O2 regarding this technology, O2 said.